Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger all ruled by military juntas have agreed to form a new regional body the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States.
After being sanctioned by the Economics Community of West African States and serving ties with Western alliances, the three countries announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS in January.
Niger’s Foreign Minister, Bakary Sangare, confirmed the finalisation of the draft text that outlines the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the AES, following a meeting of the three countries foreign ministers on Friday.
“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States,” Sangare said.
“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States has been born,” declared Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.
The Heads of State of the three countries will formally adopt the text at an upcoming summit, although the exact date has not been specified.
Meanwhile Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been called upon by his Ghanaian counterpart Nana Akufo-Addo, to mediate between the ECOWAS and the three countries.
“We are lucky to have a new leader in place because I think he is also going to help us to try and resolve the big problem that we have in the ECOWAS community,” Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said after meeting Faye in Accra.
“President Faye is very committed to seeing what he and the rest of us can do to reach out and revive the dialogue.”
